Editorial Commentary

A New Chapter Opens

Crimea may yet signal a different plotline in the book of European history.

Considering the troubled history of the Crimean peninsula, it should be no surprise that it was transformed from an autonomous region of Ukraine to an independent country to an autonomous region of Russia in three days.

Nor should it be a surprise that both Ukraine and Russia were shouting and occasionally shooting at each other over Crimea, nor a surprise that the last thing either side wanted was an independent Crimea with political...